Bake some Hetty Feather Christmas gingerbread

People have been baking gingerbread for more than a thousand years! But the Victorians (like Hetty Feather) loved gingerbread as a special festive treat.

Here’s how you can make your very own gingerbread biscuits – wrap them as gifts for your friends, thread them with ribbons to add a sweet touch to your Christmas tree or munch them all away with a glass of milk and a good book.

You will need:

• 50g plain flour, plus a bit extra for dusting

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 125g butter

• 175g brown sugar

• 1 large egg

• 4 tsp golden syrup

Optional, for decorations:

• Icing in whatever colours you like!

How to make them:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 (make sure you ask a grown up for help when touching hot things)

2. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper

3. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and butter, and whizz in a food processor or rub it in with your fingers until you have a mixture that looks like breadcrumbs

4. Stir in the sugar

5. Beat the egg and golden syrup together and add to the mixture. Stir or whizz again until the mixture clumps together

6. Tip the dough out onto a clean surface. Knead until smooth, wrap in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes

7. Roll the dough out on a surface lightly dusted with flour, so it about a centimeter thick

8. Using cutters, cut out shapes in the dough. Place carefully on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them. If you want to thread a ribbon through, make a small hole in one point of the shape

9. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling

10. When cooled, you can decorate your gingerbread with icing. Then wrap them in cellophane to make a lovely gift, thread with a ribbon for a Christmas decoration or enjoy them as a tasty festive treat